THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 179, August 25, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
WHEN WILL WESTERNERS STOP WESTERNIZING ISLAMIC CONCEPTS
By Raymond Ibrahim
ZAKAT, CHARITY, & FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO VIOLENT JIHADISTS: THE ROLE OF ZAKAT IN FUNDING THE
GLOBAL JIHAD BEING WAGED AGAINST THE U.S.A. & THE WEST -- WESTERNIZING TRADITIONAL ISLAMIC CONCEPTS SUCH
AS ZAKAT & JIHAD -- HOW SOME WESTERNERS, INCLUDING AMERICAN TEACHERS & POLITICIANS, WAGE PSYCHOLOGICAL
WARFARE AGAINST THEIR OWN SOCIETIES -- AIDING & ABETTING AMERICA'S ENEMY IN THE FOURTH WORLD WAR
FULL STORY:
Recently, Cathy Lynn Grossman, of USA Today, wrote an article about Muslim zakat, wherein I was referenced
as a "critic of Islam." She then followed up with another article titled "Critic Questions the Aims and Ends of Islamic
Charity," dedicated to examining my views on zakat.
While I appreciate Ms. Grossman's initiative, what especially interests me is that her response exemplifies the problems
originally highlighted in my article, "The Dark Side of Zakat: Islamic Charity in Context," which Ms. Grossman takes to
task.
I had written:
"From what American schoolchildren are being
taught by their teachers to what Americans are
being told by their Presidents, concepts unique
to Islam are nowadays almost always
'Westernized.' … [T]his phenomenon has
resulted in epistemic (and thus endemic) failures,
crippling Americans from objectively
understanding some of Islam's more troublesome
doctrines."
It is, therefore, a bit ironic that Ms. Grossman's entire article is a testimony to this phenomenon. For starters, even
though I indicated Muslims are actually forbidden from bestowing zakat onto non-Muslims, her opening sentence
stubbornly describes zakat as a "mandate to be charitable." Surely "charity" that discriminates according to religion
cannot be deemed all that "charitable," a word that, in a Western context, is connotative of universal beneficence.
Ms. Grossman is also decided that Muslims engaged in that timeless Islamic phrase "fi sabil Allah" — most literally,
"the path of Allah" — include "anyone from seminary students to imams to missionaries"; conversely, I supposedly
read it "as a straight pipeline to violent jihadists."
Fair enough. Unfortunately, however, when it comes to the significance of Islamic terminology, neither her opinion
nor mine matters much; how Islam's authoritative schools of jurisprudence (specifically, the four madhahib) have
interpreted "fi sabil Allah" is all that matters. And Islam's juridical rulings are such that "fi sabil Allah" is
synonymous with the concept of violent jihad.
For example, in its section on zakat, the Arabic-English edition of the standard legal text, 'Umdat as-Salik,
translates "fi sabil Allah" as "those fighting for Allah." Next to the index entry for "fi sabil Allah," it simply says
"see jihad."
The following zakat-related anecdote from Islamic history is further illuminating: After Muhammad's death in 632,
several Arab tribes, while still identifying themselves as Muslims, refused to pay zakat, much of which was being
used to fund ongoing military operations. Abu Bakr, the first "righteous" Caliph, responded by launching the
Apostasy Wars, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Arabs. In this context, neither the uses of zakat, nor
Abu Bakr's murderous response, seem very "charitable." (Whoever heard of killing people for not being "charitable"
enough?)
As a result, the same canon of the Sharia (Islamic law) that unequivocally forbids Muslims from giving zakat
(financial assistance) to non-Muslims, advocates giving it to what we call "jihadists." This is a simple fact, played
over and over again — not my opinion, nor something that is "open to interpretation."
Ms. Grossman's concluding questions are further indicative of the widespread tendency to recast Muslim concepts
into Western terms. She asks the reader:
"Do you think believers may support those 'in the
path of Allah' in a religious sense, just as Christians
might support missionaries evangelizing for Christ?
Or do you read that as code for nefarious purposes?"
Aside from the fact that — alas, and once again — what any of us "think" is totally irrelevant, these questions
demonstrate the all too common inability to transcend one's own culturally-ingrained notions of right and wrong,
ascribing to them a universal pedigree. For just as Ms. Grossman's Western sensibilities inform her that zakat, which
has to do with giving money, must always be "charitable," so too do they inform her that funding violence, jihadi or
otherwise, must always be "nefarious."
Yet, she may be surprised to discover that men such as Osama bin Laden actually see their jihad — yes, with all the
death and destruction entailed — as an act of altruism, as an ugly means to a beneficent end (see Koran,
2:216), that is, the establishment of Islamic law across the world (which is, incidentally, another Muslim duty). One
of the most renowned Muslim clerics and hero of modern day jihadists, Ibn Taymiyya, has written at great length
describing jihad as the ultimate expression of "love." And, at any rate, it seems a safe bet that most Muslims will be
inclined to adhere to his opinions, i.e., his fatwas, as opposed to Ms. Grossman's casual thoughts on the matter.
The lesson here? Well meaning Americans would do well to cease interpreting age-old Muslim doctrines — from
jihad to zakat — according to their Western epistemology and, instead, rely on the standard rulings of mainstream
Islam, as articulated by its authoritative schools of jurisprudence. That is, after all, what Muslims do.
Postscript: As it happens, I recently relayed much of this to Ms. Grossman, and she responded in another
entry, the gist of which is that, just because a religion teaches something, does not mean its adherents follow it.
She writes:
"As clear as Jewish law is on the dietary rules, most
Jews do not keep kosher. As clear as evangelical
preaching in many denominations is that Christ is
essential to salvation, most people say all good
people go to heaven, regardless of their faith or lack
of same."
This is, of course, true; thus one should differentiate between the teachings of the various religions (which are often
objective and ascertainable) and the actual practices of their adherents (which are often neither). The natural corollary
to Ms. Grossman's Jewish and Christian examples is that, "As clear as Islamic law is on the obligation of jihad and the
need to fund it, most Muslims ignore it."
Unfortunately, this position offers little comfort: It took only 19 Muslims to commit the horrendous events of 9/11.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim, a historian of Islam, Islamism and the Middle East, is the Associate Director of the Middle East Forum
and the editor of The Al-Qa'ida Reader, a collection of tranlations of key texts and documents of the Islamist
movement. Ibrahim's translations of the religious texts and political propaganda comprising this collection help readers
comprehend the origins, development, history, and serious danger of the Islamist war doctrines of Usama bin Laden and
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Founders of Al-Qa'ida and implacable enemies of the U.S.A. and the West.
The foregoing article by Raymond Ibrahim was originally published in the Middle East Forum News, August 25,
2009, and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which
seeks to define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical
Islam, working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to
promote constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more
robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/2441/ westernizing-islamic-concepts)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
August 25, 2009
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XI, 2009
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity